Rebel Assault
by DayDream Jedi
Summary: Rebel spaceships striking from a hidden base have won their first victories against the evil Galactic Empire. The Empire's military might is far from defeated however and it will take all the skill of the Rebellion's newly-minted X-Wing fighter pilots to help stop its machinations. Do they have what it takes to go up against the Empire's greatest weapons… and survive?


**_A/N: _**_Many of you will no doubt recognize this story as an adaption of the classic LucasArts game Rebel Assault. I have made a few changes here and there, an effort to make the story flow better, or at least I think so._

_This will be the first in a series of stories chronicling the adventures of Aidan Hunter and X-Wing Knight Squadron, as they fight alongside the rest of the Rebel Alliance to free the galaxy from the tyranny of the Empire. You can expect a few other familiar faces to show up, such as Keyan Farlander from X-Wing, Maarek Stele from TIE Fighter, "Ace" Azzameen from X-Wing Alliance as well as many classic Star Wars characters as well. Above all this is meant to pay tribute to one of my most favorite aspects to the Star Wars galaxy: star fighter combat._

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**STAR WARS**

**X-WING**

**Rebel Assault**

**A LONG TIME AGO, IN A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY…**

**It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victories against the evil Galactic Empire.**

**Under the command of the Emperor and Darth Vader, the Empire rules the galaxy with an iron fist and it is far from defeated.**

**However, many young, unknown pilots are joining the Rebels in the hope that they can restore peace and freedom to the galaxy…**

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_Dramatis Personae_

Rebel Alliance

Aidan Hunter, Rookie One (human male from Avalon)

Captain Merrick Simms, Blue Leader (human male from Tanaab)

Commander Ru Murleen, Blue Two (Human female from Commenor)

Thurlow Harris, Blue Four (human male from Centares)

Jana Shepard, Rookie Two (human female from Dantooine)

Lieutenant Turland Hack (human male from Corulag)

Commander Jake Farrell, Green Leader (human male from Telos)

Imperial Forces

Darth Vader (human male from Tatooine)

Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin (human male from

"Mauler" Mithel, Black 2

"Backstabber", Black 3

"Dark Curse", Black 4

DS-61-8, Black 8

"Wampa", Black 11

Qorl, Black 6

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**Chapter 1: Flight Training**

"_In those early days of the Rebellion, they would take just about anyone, if you had at least some skill. When I "joined" I was a little over 16. I qualified as a starfighter pilot just three weeks after my seventeenth birthday. These days that very likely wouldn't happen; they certainly wouldn't be as accepting of some backwater bumpkin that had just gotten off the transport. Just look at Luke Skywalker!"_

_-Aidan Hunter_

The morning sun broke over the clouds in the far horizon of the planet Kolaador, the rays shining upon an assembly of buildings nestled among the planet's giant crystal formations. Stenciled alongside one of the rounded buildings were the words Pilot Training Center and beneath that the soaring starbird crest of the Alliance to Restore The Republic, known much more widely as the Rebel Alliance.

Inside the main hangar of the Center, doors in the floor split apart to reveal a repulsorlift platform that began to raise a T-16 Skyhopper into the hangar. Inside the Skyhopper, a young brown-haired pilot finished his pre-flight check. He wore a grey flightsuit and light model helmet. He glanced around himself eagerly, noting that there was another Skyhopper parked ahead of him.

"Yo hayseed. Aren't you forgetting protocol?" asked a distinctly female voice over the comm. The young pilot, Aidan Hunter, frowned a bit at the Skyhopper ahead of him, the source of the transmission.

"Just making sure everything's in order, Jana. Not all of us are always hurrying." He then switched the comm channel before she could retort to the base's control room.

"Rookie One to tac-com control, request clearance for departure."

"This is Tac-Comm Control, clearance granted. Is that you kid?" responded a rough-sounding voice, one that caused Aidan to split into a wide grin again.

"Hack! Good to hear ya!"

"So you're running your trials today? Wish I could be with ya. You shouldn't have any problems though; this isn't half the stuff of the runs we used to do. Good luck!"

"Thanks!" replied Aidan as he powered up the Skyhopper's repulsorlifts and gently lifted it into the air.

"All right Jana, you ready to go?" he asked his companion as he nudged his Skyhopper to float next to hers.

"You know it! Let's see who can come out of this with the best score," she shot back. Suddenly, her Skyhopper shot out of the hangar.

"Hey!" Aidan cried out. Technically he was lead pilot and "protocol" deemed that he should have been first. But that was Jana; constantly driving him closer and closer to insanity. He immediately goosed his throttle, not wanting to be left behind, and roared out of the hangar and into he bright morning sunlight.

A few minutes later they were flying over a patch of flatlands that were free of Kolaador's ubiquitous crystals. Ahead of them they could see two more T-16s and the faint outlines of Widows Canyon, the first part of their flight trials today.

"Green Leader to Rookie 1 and 2, are you ready?" came the voice of their flight leader, Captain Merrick Simms.

"Yes sir!" they chorused.

"Good. We'll begin with basic flight maneuvers. Stay tight and keep clear of the walls."

And with that they dove into Widows Canyon. Jana immediately increased her throttle and jumped out ahead of Aidan. He growled softly to himself; he'd keep watch for a chance to get back ahead. Technically they weren't being scored on who finished before who, but it had always rankled him how Jana was so competitive with him. Not that a little competition between pilots was a bad thing but Jana almost seemed to make it personal, trying to show that the bumpkin from the fringes of known space couldn't keep up. Well he'd show her.

Widows Canyon wasn't impossible to navigate just on its own; what made it a challenge was the fact that the walls were so close together. You had to keep on eye on how they were maneuvering; otherwise you might just end up as scrap on the side of the canyon. As they flew into one of the rare straight segments, Aidan saw his chance. He pushed the throttle and the engine in his T-16 responded, leaping out ahead of Jana.

"Hey!" she cried over the comm, but just then, Green Leader broke in.

"We're coming up to a fork in the canyon. Green Two will go left. You can go with him but if you're really a hotshot, follow me to the right."

Aidan immediately knew what he was going to do and suspected it was the same thing that Jana was going to do. He pulled hard right on his flight stick, arcing through the fork right on Green Leader's tail, Jana in close pursuit. Green Leader hadn't been kidding; this part of the canyon was much more tight and winding than the previous part.

"You're just lucky I can't pass you right now," grumbled Jana. Aidan chose not to respond; he was too busy trying to follow Green Leader through the serpentine course.

"Now get ready, this is the hardest part of the course up ahead. Rookie Two, follow Rookie One's lead. You're going to have to pull hard left, then right, and then either go up and over or through a short tunnel. Get ready for it… NOW!"

Aidan immediately pulled hard on the stick, sending his Skyhopper into a tight left bank. Suddenly he noticed that the canyon wall was getting a little close on the right for his liking and applied a little etheric rudder with the right rudder pedal. His turn had been loose enough, however, to let Jana slip past him with a blast from her engine. There was no way he'd catch up to her, not now that they had to go into the right turn, the canyon walls oppressively close on both sides. They came out of the turn, hot on each other's tails. Ahead, Aidan saw the tunnel that Green Leader had mentioned. It had come up so suddenly and Jana had dropped so suddenly to head into the tunnel, that Aidan hesitated a moment. He tried to dip down to follow Jana, but he was too late. Cursing slightly under his breath, he bounced back up and over the mottled sand-colored stone. He pushed the throttle to its stops but found to his annoyance that Jana came blasting out of the tunnel, still ahead of him.

"Aw, was that a little too hard for you, Hunter?" she asked, derision dripping from every word.

"Nope, just surprised me a little bit," he replied through clenched teeth.

"Too bad you don't get do-overs," she quipped.

Now they were flying through a relatively straight part of the canyon and Aidan could see ahead that Green Leader and Green Two had already made it out of the canyon, past some tall rock pillars that guarded the exit. To Aidan, they looked like the monstrous teeth of some ancient predator… and he suddenly had a very interesting, very dumb idea. It would be tight, but not impossible, according to his sensors. As Jana flashed past the teeth, Aidan drifted towards the right as he approached them.

"Hunter, what are you…" began Green Leader but by then it was too late to stop him. Just as got to the teeth, Aidan banked slightly to the right, stomped on his left rudder pedal and decreased thrust. At the perfect moment that he was lined up with the largest gap between the three teeth, he punched his throttle to full, feeling himself smashed into the seat by the sudden acceleration. He shot through the gap, his top airfoil scraping against one of the pillars. He immediately executed a snap roll to the left and came roaring out of the canyon.

"That was awesome!" Aidan cried, his face stretched into a grin so wide it almost hurt, blood and adrenaline thundering in his ears.

"You still clipped yourself coming out of there, a little more and you'd have been splattered," shot back Jana.

Aidan rolled his eyes and would have snapped back if Green Leader hadn't cut in.

"Great flying out there you two. You've earned yourself a pair of actual starfighters. Now, let's see if you can impress Commander Farrell."

Aidan felt some of his good mood evaporate at that announcement. Commander Farrell was known for being the hardest of the hard-nosed instructors and Aidan had been hoping he wouldn't be part of the trials today. As the quartet of Skyhoppers soared over the jagged Kolaador landscape back to the base, Aidan thought that the chance to fly an actual starfighter was still worth it.


End file.
